Familial Etiquette
by Verboten Byacolate
Summary: Rome/Germania AU. With two families living under one roof, it can be difficult for Aulus to pick up on his less-cute grandson's plights. Luckily, Ewald is perceptive enough for the both of them. Exchange fic for Tamer Lorika.
1. The First

My fic for the exchange with **Tamer Lorika**. I just couldn't help myself. I know it isn't _exactly _what you asked for, being that it focuses quite a bit on the cruelty of children to other children, but this is how it ended up. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Upon waking, three things became apparent to Ewald Weilschmidt. The first was that he had carelessly fallen asleep while watching television. The second that the old fool beside him hadn't moved an inch since, and was probably now suffering from a torturous tingling arm that was sleeping far harder than Ewald had been, seeing as it was snugly situated behind the blond's head. The third that the television was displaying an overly-cheery salesman in the middle of describing the ease with which he was able to strap some odd-looking machine to his back. Ewald shifted a bit to a more comfortable position, his eyes only half open as he regarded the gentleman silently from his resting place against Aulus.

"I don't know why I would need to buy a fake time machine to impress my friends, but his cheerful and honest demeanor kind of makes me want to buy it anyway."

Ewald didn't even waste the energy rolling his eyes would take, instead choosing to watch the colors flash across the screen without really paying attention, the flickering glow spreading menial light to an otherwise dark room. "I don't suppose you'd rather go to bed than watch infomercials at... two fifteen in the morning."

Aulus chuckled, and Ewald felt a thumb slowly shift up and down on his shoulder. "You were just too cute to disturb. Besides, Joe isn't that bad. Look at that friendly smile."

Ewald ignored the statement, an action he was prone to doing with Aulus at least thrice a day, and instead closed his eyes to the world again and mumbled sleepily, "If you aren't getting up now, don't plan to do it any time soon."

Aulus smiled and nuzzled his nose into his lover's flaxen mane and breathed in Ewald's fresh scent. "Does that mean I can carry you to bed when you fall back asleep, Princess?" he mumbled right back. Ewald gave a noncommittal grunt at that; it had 'yes' written all over it in Aulus' smitten mind. He kissed Ewald's pale brow and powered the television off, pulling the blond into his lap and lifted him as he stood.

"I thought you were going to wait for me to fall asleep," came the deadpanned complaint.

"You're so much more fun awake, though," Aulus responded cheerfully. Ewald had only a long-suffering sigh in response to that and it was in all fondness that the other dropped him into bed and crawled in beside him, kissing him soundly. When he realized that Ewald wasn't responding he pouted, about to call him on it when he took note of the slow, even breath fanning across his cheek. Aulus melted. "You're too cute," he murmured, pressing another kiss to Ewald's forehead and simply held his sleeping lover, beginning to feel a little drowsy himself.

* * *

He noticed that something was wrong with his grandson only _after _Ewald mentioned it. It made him feel a little guilty that he hadn't noticed sooner, but in all fairness, Lovino had never been the grandchild at the forefront of his mind. Well. Not that that was exactly fair, certainly not for Lovino, and the guilt settled heavier on his shoulders that he knew the child must be used to it by now. Ewald is perceptive enough for the both of them, though, which Aulus is grateful for, because whether or not he expressed favoritism, he did love Lovino.

It was during breakfast that the blond set down his steaming mug of herbal tea and leaned back a little in his seat. His eyes were focused on the slouching figure of the elder Italian across the table from him. Feliciano chatted amicably with Aulus, effectively absorbing all of his attention. When they both left for school, it seemed normal enough; Feliciano practically bounded out the door with Ewald's youngest close behind. Gilbert followed after, yawning and stretching with his hair sticking out every which way, just having woken up (getting that boy a new alarm clock was on Ewald's to-do list, though Ludwig usually took care of that job proficiently enough himself). Lovino, as per usual, trudged behind, mumbling a farewell.

Aulus waved until the front door finally closed and the house was bathed in silence. He hummed, flopping into the chair next to Ewald with a hot cup of black coffee in his hands. "Alone at last. It's so good to be housemates, isn't it? The kids are so cute, and you know, I really think we're going to have to soundproof Ludwig's room if Feli keeps crawling into his bed naked. They're both growing boys, and in the springtime of their youth of course they'll want to-"

"Did you notice something different about Lovino?"

The darker of the two paused at the interruption and cocked his head to the side. "With Lovi? He's his usual moody self, isn't he? Why do you say that?"

Ewald doesn't speak for a moment, sipping his tea and keeping his eyes trained on the cup. The muffled chirping of robins outside the window accompany the faint ticking and tocking of the grandfather clock in the sitting room just beyond. Aulus hears nothing but the slow breathing of his companion, the gentle thud of porcelain on polished oak when the cup is set down. "It's different."

And it was different. For the first time since receiving a call from school about a much younger Lovino headbutting other children in middle school from the principle, the eldest Vargas waited by the door for his less chipper grandson. It made Aulus feel ten times more guilty when he called Lovino's name after the child walked in and past him; he paused and looked over his shoulder in shock, as if he truly hadn't expected his grandfather to acknowledge him directly. Especially when Feliciano darted in right after, firmly attached to Ludwig by the hand. Lovino seemed confused when all Aulus did was watch him as his brother bounced up the stairs and out of earshot. The quizzical look turned into one of a more guarded nature. "Whatever it is, I swear I didn't do it."

Aulus leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms over his chest, smiling easily. "You're not in trouble, Lovino."

"... Oh." The confusion was back. "Then why do you want to talk to me?"

The smile turned into a grimace. Did he really only ever communicate with Lovino when he was due some punishment? No, that couldn't be, certainly not... "I was just... curious about... your life...?"

Lovino rolled his eyes and hefted his bag farther up his shoulder. "You don't have to pretend to be interested in me. You want to know about Feli's grades without asking him, right? Don't worry, he's not failing anything. He's practically surpassed both the art and piano instructors, so you should go praise him."

The grimace melted into a slight frown. "Lovino-"

"_Nonno_!" Feliciano hopped back down the stairs, slipping and sliding across the wooden floor into Aulus' arms. "Listen, listen! There's this play at school, and Ludwig agreed to go with me to audition! It's a musical, and you know Ludwig has the coolest voice when he's singing in the shower, so I thought-"

The older man couldn't help but absorb everything Feliciano said like a sponge. When he looked back up, remembering all of the sudden that he had been trying to talk to his other grandson, the child was no where to be found.

Any more of this guilt business promised to crush his soul into a thousand mushy pieces.

* * *

Cornering Lovino never seemed to work; the child was a master at getting away, true to his Italian blood, and it wasn't exactly helpful that Aulus was defenseless against Feliciano's constant cries for attention. It became all too clear to the Vargas grandfather that Lovino was far too used to being in the background, put second place for his little brother's sunshine. But even clueless Feli had noticed something, and after a while, his cheery demeanor dimmed a bit.

"Veee," he murmured one night to Ludwig in the living room doing homework. Folding laundry across the room, Aulus looked up. He had to strain his ears, as the heavy rain pounding outside made too much background noise to make it easy to hear the quietly uttered statement. "I think something is wrong with _Fratello_."

The furrow in the blond's brow deepened slightly. "I did notice that he's been less... vindictive lately, but it's a nice reprieve. Feliciano, you really need to focus on your homework."

"But Ludwiiig-" A loud crash of thunder made the Italian squeak and practically jump into Ludwig's lap, clinging to him for dear life. "Veee, the thunder's so scary!"

"C-calm down, Feliciano," Ludwig said, awkwardly patting the shivering boy on the back.

And then a flash of lightning lit the room in white for a split second before complete darkness fell. Feliciano whimpered and Ludwig worked on soothing him while Aulus stood, feeling his way over to the emergency cabinet wedged under the sofa. While he felt around for it, he reached into his pocket and found his phone, dialing the number he could recite backwards in his sleep. "Wal," he said into the speaker when he was received on the other line by a calm voice, "you'd better not be driving."

_"You say that like I haven't had decades of experience on the road."_

"It's dangerous even for the most experienced! You shouldn't be driving in a storm like this!"

If Aulus listened carefully, he could hear a different voice on the other end. It was familiar and anxious.

_"The storm isn't going to let up any time soon and I'm almost home." _

"Who else is there?"

_"What?"_

"I said, who else is-"

_"This... bad connection. I'll be... minutes." _

And then the other line went dead. Aulus tried again and snapped the phone shut in frustration when Ewald's phone went straight to voicemail. At that point, Ludwig and Feliciano were looking for flashlights and candles on shelves to make light, and Aulus went over to the window. He waited impatiently, and by the time dim headlights were swirling in the water drops on the window pane from the driveway, the warm scent of clean linen and something with cinnamon drifted through the house with all the fervor a Bath and Body Works shop could dish out. Aulus went to meet the German at the door with a blanket, but when he opened the door, two bodies darted in. The shorter slipped past him with a hurried, heavily-accented hello and dashed up the stairs. Aulus watched him go and turned back to Ewald, draping the blanket around his shoulders with an inquisitive expression on his face.

"You brought Antonio?"

Pale blue eyes flickered over his, a trick of the warm candlelight. "Feliciano isn't the only one afraid of thunder."

A pang of something terribly unpleasant shot through Aulus' heart and he turned, trotting up the stairs. He had never suspected, never known that Lovino wasn't stronger or braver during a storm than Feliciano. He always seemed to protect Feli when they were small, holding him as the lightning flashed outside; Aulus couldn't count how many times he had woken up and entered their room to find a quaking mass of little boy clinging to his older brother for dear life under the covers.

Looking through the wide-open doorway into Lovino's room, he could see with every slice of lightning through the sky that perhaps he didn't know Lovino at all.

"Why did you come?" came a very uncertain cry from the floor. On his knees, Antonio Carriedo enveloped the violently trembling Vargas with his long arms, pulling him so close it looked almost painful.

"How could I not?" Antonio replied. His voice cracked, and Lovino sobbed. Aulus knew this couldn't just be about the storm. He held onto the doorframe, forcing his eyes to adjust to the dark. The dim silhouette of the two was outlined between the end of Lovino's bed and his rocking chair, a huddled form of pain and resistance and comfort, something far too deep for a simple bout of strong weather. "Lovi, _mi querido_-"

"Stop! _Vaffanculo_!" He sounded so broken, so hurt; Aulus felt his heart twist. "We can't! We just can't!"

"I don't care what they say," Antonio replied, his voice much stronger, if just as hurt. "It doesn't matter!"

"It _does_! _Affanculo._ You're too stupid to see that it matters! I'm used to it, dammit, but you...! You're too fucking stupid and dumb to know how much this is going to bite you in the ass! It's not even worth it! _I'm_ not-"

"_Lovino_!"

The Italian smothered his shuddering cries in Antonio's jacket, body wracked with all of the tension and frustration and heartbreak his grandfather had never been allowed to see rush out, and when Feliciano trotted up the stairs with a flashlight and pointed it in the room around Aulus, the look on the Spaniard's face was one of raw anguish. His fingers were threaded through Lovino's hair, his arms pulling Lovino into his lap, and when the older Vargas brother froze at being discovered, Antonio used the leverage he had to just hold him there, cradling Lovino to him like the most fragile and precious thing in the world. His green eyes were dark, glinting with hurt and possession and protectiveness that Aulus himself could not even rival with his own flesh and blood.

Lovino tried to pull away, wiping his eyes hastily, but Antonio wouldn't let him out of his lap, barely allowing him to detach himself from his chest. Flustered and exhausted, Lovino could barely put up a struggle. Not that he didn't try, but Antonio's surprising strength could not be outdone even by Lovino's violent shyness.

"Ve... _Fratello_, Antonio, what's-"

And then, without warning, the lights flickered back to life, rendering Feliciano efficiently distracted and the huddled couple more than exposed.

* * *

So I know you wanted society being unkind to Rome and Germania for being gay, and that sounded like a cry for angst to me; so I thought: What could be more angsty than Lovino, already an angst magnet, playing a huge part in the cruel society bit? I'm a glutton for guilt, too, so it was a very masochistic move of me to write Lovi like that. I love him so much! I really do! (I also didn't think you'd mind the Spamano GerIta snuggled all cozy in there. X3)  
For my name choice, I did a little research on _behindthename(dot)com_ and received these explanations:  
Aulus: Possibly from either Latin _avulus_ "little grandfather" or _aula_ "palace", though it could be from an unknown Etruscan origin. This was a Roman praenomen, or given name.  
Ewald: From a Germanic name which was composed of the elements _ewa_ "law, custom" and _wald_ "rule".  
As a final note, I'll have the next part up eventually (which hopefully means "soon".) I hope you're feeling better, Tamer Lorika. Get healthy or else!  
-Bya


	2. The Next

Finally, huh? Sorry for the distinct lack of update in a couple of months. Life swooped in before I could even get my priorities straight. But here it is, Tamer. More angst and fluff, just~ for~ you~ And I promise... just one more chapter after this. You won't have to suffer for much longer. XD

* * *

* * *

"Get out of my room," was Lovino's first weak attempt at spurning his family. When Aulus and Feliciano only stared at him with matching dumbfounded expressions the color in his cheeks darkened. "O-oi, didn't you hear me? I said get out, dammit!"

"Lovino," his grandfather murmured, concern etched in the barely-there wrinkles lining his brow. The moment he stepped foot into the room, a pulse of thunder gave way. Lovino flinched. Antonio pulled him securely against his chest, softly uttering words of comfort in his native tongue, making apologetic eyes at the older man. While Aulus was perhaps not the most attentive of people, he could see that at this point any interrogation he might have begun would not be received kindly and made a wise retreat, but not before looking Lovino firmly in the eyes and making sure that, without a doubt, he knew, "This. We're going to talk about this, Lovino Romano Vargas."

This earned him a noncommittal grunt in reply and Lovino turned his eyes away. The disbelief in them, the wariness and lack of trust pierced Aulus, making it difficult to close the door on such a scene, so used was he to resolving matters as soon as they presented themselves before him. Feliciano's soft _ve _brought him out of his clouded thoughts and he took note of the child's downcast expression. "_Fratello_'s in pain," he murmured, a look of confusion and unease on his face. If he had been looking in a mirror, Aulus wouldn't doubt that he would be wearing the same expression.

"We'll just have to figure out what's wrong, then, won't we?" the elder replied, and hesitantly moved away from his grandson's door.

* * *

When Ludwig carried a homework-exhausted Feliciano up the stairs during the second blackout, Aulus collapsed onto Ewald's lap in the living room, draping his arms over the blond's thighs. He was pouting. Ewald could just tell.

"Lovino won't talk to me."

"You're right." At Aulus' scandalized expression Ewald returned it with a deadpan. "Well, he won't."

"I think you're supposed to comfort me in this instance," he said, sulking.

"Ah," Ewald replied monotonously. "I've always just assumed that you preferred honesty."

"You're making it worse!"

After Aulus pouted a bit more, his expression melted into something more sober. He regarded Ewald seriously with his dark eyes, wrapping an arm about his lover's hips. "What has he been hiding from me?"

Ewald glanced out the window, lifting his mug of tea to his lips in silent thought. "You should ask him."

"He won't tell me anything."

"Perhaps you should have taken a bigger interest in him sooner."

The counterattack nearly penetrated right through his heart. He cringed. The German never really was one for mercy. But he was always the wiser, which made Aulus think that perhaps he was privy to more information than he was willing to diverge.

"Do you know?"

The turquoise seas he had long fallen in love with nearly looked through him now. But didn't they always?

"Yes."

Aulus' eyes widened.

"Lovino... You and Lovino spoke about it?"

"No."

Aulus frowned. "But you said..."

Sip. "Antonio."

Stare. "What about him?"

Glance. "He told me everything."

The tanner of the two moved closer, resting his cheek against Ewald's thigh and looking up and up, sporting his best puppy expression. "And now you're going to tell me?"

"No."

Aulus' jaw dropped, and Ewald sighed internally. He'd have to cut him off at the pass or he'd be victim to a long night of whining. "Talk to him yourself. Your failure to communicate is why he won't speak with you in the first place."

Aulus made a face and sobbed in a dramatic, pathetic manner. "This emotionally stunted gentleman is lecturing me on my communication skills," he grieved, shutting his eyes against the unfairness of it all.

Silence reigned for a good five minutes or so. Ewald should have known it wouldn't last.

"Do you think he'll ever tell me what's wrong?" The blond's next sigh was external.

"No."

The elder made a face.

"Still not comforting."

A pale eyebrow lifted high, and Aulus apologized for saying something so silly.

"I'm being honest," the German said, resting his hand atop Aulus' dark curls. "He won't tell you of his own accord, Aulus. You need to ask him yourself. His faith in you is already dwindled to near nothing. Just waiting for him to bear his soul won't bear any fruit."

Aulus was pensive for a short moment. "You're right. Of course you're right. But what if he won't say anything? You know how he just brushes things off. He complains incessantly about the trivial things, but when it's important, he clams right up. He'll probably pretend nothing's wrong, and-"

"There _is _something wrong."

Both of the older men looked up. Illuminated by candlelight, Antonio stood in the hall entryway with an expression Aulus had never seen across the young man's face, his arm stretched from his side. "It's hurting him very badly, and he doesn't want to tell you because he doesn't want to disappoint anyone."

Mumbles broke out in the hallway and Antonio's face turned in the direction his arm was stretched. "Well, you don't, Lovi, and that's an admirable trait, and I love you for it, but it isn't always a good thing."

"S-shut up," Lovino mumbled a little louder, slowly revealing himself to the candle glow. His amber eyes were lowered to the floor, a familiar frown on his face. "Stop worrying so much, old man, it's not that big of a deal." Antonio made a noise of disagreement and Lovino shushed him. His fingers, tangled with Antonio's, visibly whitened for the intensity of their tightness. Aulus spared him a frown to match, sitting up and out of Ewald's lap.

"Tell _nonno _what's wrong, Lovino."

The boy tisked and looked to the left, seeming to find great interest in the wall divider.

"People are dicks," he answered in a mumble. Antonio pulled him closer to his side, translating.

"Lovi is being bullied."

Aulus felt awful for initially finding it ironically humorous that his bully of a grandson was finally getting a taste of his own medicine.

"It's not.. it isn't as bad as it could be." Why was he speaking as though he knew? "It's just because I'm a fucking fag and my peers aren't as receptive to that shit as you might think," he shrugged. "That's just how it is, I guess."

Aulus' lips thinned into a line that Ewald knew meant he was too upset to form words. Lovino slowly looked up and flinched. The elder then made an effort to calm himself. He pushed himself up off the sofa and padded over to the two, encircling his grandson in his arms and squeezing him with a gentle firmness, earning a tiny surprised noise from the boy.

"Thank you for telling me, Lovino," he said softly. He turned his head, resting his cheek atop Lovino's head to look at Antonio. "Are you spending the night?" he asked in a manner that was more of a command that left no room for rejection. The Spaniard offered a relieved smile.

"I probably would have stayed without an invitation," he admitted, his eyes soft when he looked at Lovino's (probably bright red) face.

"Excellent." He gave Lovino a firm pat on the back and released him, grinning at his dazed expression. "You look exhausted, Lovi. To bed!" He tussled his grandon's hair. "We'll talk about this tomorrow after we've all got some rest."

Aulus turned back to Ewald once the young men were out of eyeshot and sighed. The blond quirked a curious brow.

"You're going to talk to the school."

Aulus deflated back into his lover's lap, shutting tired eyes. "I'm going to talk to the school."

Ewald slid his long, pale fingers through Aulus' dark curls in his approval.

"Just remember that normal people aren't receptive to death threats."

He smiled tiredly.

"I'll try."


End file.
